Advisor

Ricky Yu was the Hong Kong General Manager of a multinational direct selling company. He left his job in 2009, founded Light Be, and started renting apartments from philanthropic landlords to sublease the property to single mother families at an affordable rent. He named these apartments “Light Home”. He emphasizes the difference between housing empowerment and poverty alleviation: “Our job is to create a context so that the oppressively housed families can rebuild their direction and dignity of living.”

In 2014, Yu submitted an application to the Government for an idle staff quarter building of a textile factory in Sham Tseng. Yu kicked off a large scale renovation program after the Town Planning Board approved the change of land use. In 2016, this once shabby building had been revitalized as Light Housing.

From Light Home to Light Housing, Yu is trying to create a new model beyond both housing market and housing welfare. He named it “Social Realty”.